It's A Possibility
by Lady Pax
Summary: Zechs and Relena have a sister! *gasp* But no, she isn't a whiny-@$$ed brat(hates Heero, too). She is a Gundam pilot, assasin, and a master of disguise; and holds information that the new enemy would kill for - literally...
1. one

**It's A Possibility**

© 2002 Lady Pax

Author's notes: Um....this is sort of an AU, k? I just LOVE doing not-really-but-is-AUs!! 

Rated: uh...PG? I dunno...there may be romantic-ness and violence in later chaps...

Archives: www.fanfiction.net... And Silver Mask: http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/silvermask/main.html 

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But Rayne Kiesling/Shae Peacecraft is © to me, as is anything else original.

Prologue

AC Year 194 – Canadian OZ Base 

The girl stared at the man in front of her, her poker face never faltering.

"I'm glad you came to your decision, Kiesling," said the man and newly-appointed leader: Treize Khushrenada. He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "No need to be frightened. This will only hurt for a little bit." With those words he drove his knee into her stomach, making her fall to the ground in pain. 

Treize nodded to the three soldiers in the corner, and watched as two of them began pounding on her, the other soldier just watching with pained eyes that were hidden behind the dark sunglasses. 

"Why don't you join in, Zechs?" Treize said condescendingly.

"I-I can't do that...to her..." Zechs's voice began in a bass, soared, and landed at a cracking treble.

Treize sighed. "I'm sorry – but we had to do it, Zechs," he said.

Zechs nodded and waited silently until they were done pummeling her, and carried the girl to her cell. Not so gently, he put her down on the concrete floor. 

There was no window in the small cell, nor a light, bed or chair. There was only four close walls, ceiling, floor and a thick metal door with two separate codes to get both in and out. As soon as the door closed, the cell would be shut into complete and utter darkness.

When he was about to leave, the girl spoke:

"Oi...Zechs?"

"What?" he said, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"How long am I gonna be in here?" she questioned, then shivered. She leaned against the wall and brought her knees to her chest to conserve warmth. She rested her head against the wall, and closed her star-blue eyes, some of her ivory hair covering her bruised face.

"You have two months of solitary confinement," Zechs replied.

"At least it's not three years," the girl said mockingly[1].

Zechs walked back to the girl and lifted her face. "You're leaving as soon as you get out, aren't you?" he asked, glad their weren't any hidden microphones or surveillance cameras in the S.C. cells in this base.

"Of course I am. No offense to you _or OZ, Zechs – but I think I want to fight alongside my sister more than I want to with my brother," she said. "Even if the colonies and rebels are going to lose, I'd like to try and help them."_

Zechs sighed. "I won't see you until you're captured again, or if we meet up in a mission or something," he said.

"Or if the war decides to end anytime soon," the girl added, smiling.

"Yes," Zechs said nodding. "So this is good-bye for now, Rayne."

The girl, apparently Rayne, nodded. She touched his shoulder. "We'll meet again, brother – I'm sure of it. After all, someone's going to find out I'm not actually a Kiesling but a Peacecraft."

Zechs nodded. "Same here. Good-bye." He gave her a small hug and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Good-bye," she said before he left her cell.

[1]=it came from the movie Papillion(is that how u spell it?), which is French for butterfly. The main-character had either three years of solitary confinement. (Is that how much he had? It's been a while since I saw that movie...)

A/N: Yeah, okay, short... Review, anyway!


	2. two

**Chapter 1**

Regular disclaimers apply.

A/N: please review! Flames welcomed!! ^_^

AC Year 197 – Sanc Kingdom – 12:30

"So how have things been going for you, Relena?" asked Quatre.

He, the other pilots and Relena were currently in a small gazebo near the Sanc Kingdom, catching up on old times before they had to leave for the new safehouse they were appointed to. 

The new enemy, the Fang Union, was growing in power every day – and the pilots knew that they obviously had a very clever man in command. The Fang Union had soldiers from OZ, White Fang and the Mariemaia Army – making it very large – and wanted to destroy the colonies. They had already come very close to destroying L3. So, once again, the Gundams and their pilots were out of retirement.

"They're going quite well, actually," Relena said. "I'm surprised since many of the colonies have already been attacked. That reminds me – why aren't you preparing for your mission next week?"

The pilots looked at Heero. 

"Orders from Tristan Sloan," he growled. 

"Tristan Sloan?" Relena said. "Who is he?"

"Apparently he's Lady Une's cousin – twice removed or something," Heero said. "He helps with the Preventers, our missions and the like."

"Oh," said Relena, still quite in the fog. 

Suddenly, they all heard screams and yells of "Treize!!" and "He's ALIVE!!"

"What the...?" Duo murmured. They looked past the garden where the gazebo was placed, and to the white sidewalk that led to the garden where a lone figure was walking. For some strange reason when the guards saw the figure they walked away in fright. 

Duo, along with the other pilots, took out their guns and stood in front of Relena. They heard the name Treize. That was equivalent to: 'be alert and ready, you might have to kill someone now.'

"Oh my God...." Duo said when he saw who it was.

"It's Treize..." Quatre said.

And, indeed, it was. It was the leader of OZ, once one of the most powerful enemies the colonies had faced. *For Christ's sakes, his _daughter was dangerous to be around!* Duo thought, tightening his finger on the trigger._

Treize smiled and nodded. He reached into his jacket pocket, and the pilots were ready to shoot him at any time. He pulled out a gun, but he didn't use it. Instead he threw it at the pilot's feet.

He averted his ice blue eyes to Relena. "Miss Darlian Peacecraft," he said.

*His voice sounds much lighter...* Heero thought. *And he seems much thinner and a lot smaller, too... Waitasec – what the heck is he doing here in the first place?! He _died!! He was __killed...*_

"Don't move," Wufei said, moving the muzzle of his gun from his chest to Treize's head.

"I will not harm her," he said, his glare cutting straight through Wufei's ebony eyes. "I just need to speak with her. It doesn't matter if you five are here – but I need Zechs Merquise here as well."

Relena stood up. "He's at the Preventer HO," she said calmly.

"Well, is there any way we could get Mr. Merquise here, today?" 

"We can call Lady Une," said Relena, putting a tiny bit of emphasis on "Lady Une."

Treize nodded. "Alright."

*I thought he had the hots for, Une – but now he's acting like he doesn't really care!* Duo thought. *Ah, you can never figure out these wannabe world-dominators. They have their own way of looking at the world, and the world has their own way of looking at them.*

Relena took the phone that was oh-so-conveniently placed in the gazebo and called the Preventer HO. "Hello, Lady," Relena said as a greeting.

"Good afternoon, Relena," Lady Une said. "From what am I obliged this honor?"

Relena smiled. "Well, actually...I need my brother down here right away."

Treize stepped up and stood behind Relena. "We need Lucrezia here, too – and if you'd like to join, be my guest, Une," he said.

"TREIZE?!?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise.

The former-leader of OZ nodded. "Nice to see you too, Lady," he said.

Relena and the pilots thought they saw a smile begin on Lady Une's lips, but dismissed the thought. 

"Alright. We'll be there as soon as we can," said Lady Une. But before anyone else could say anything, she cut off the connection.

They all looked at Treize. "I'm as surprised as you are that she took it that well. I never talked to her since I came back here." He shrugged. "Peculiar..."

"This is getting weird..." Duo blurted. Treize looked at him with one eyebrow arched.

"God, he's HOT!!" Treize thought, though his mask hid it quite well.

The group sat down in the gazebo, the pilots and Relena giving Treize wary looks every now and then. He responded to them with a smirk and a condescending noise in his throat. About thirty minutes of strained silence later, Zechs, Noin and Lady Une walked up to the gazebo – led by two guards who paled at the sight of Treize Khushrenada.

"Ah, Zechs, Lucrezia and Lady," Treize said, standing up and smiling.

"T-Treize?!" they all stuttered, their eyes wide open. But Lady Une seemed to be trying to hide a smirk and a laugh.

"Where have you been all this time?/How did you survive?/How long have you been here?!" Those were only a few of the questions Treize was bombarded with by Lucrezia Noin and Zechs Merquise.

"Questions later – though I doubt I'll be able to answer all of them. I need to tell you something very important right now. So please, sit down." The three nodded in perplexity (though Une still seemed to be hiding something), and sat in the gazebo with the others.

The group all looked at Treize, who was standing at the entrance to the pergola. He had a very grim face on, and his emotions were hidden.

"Well?" Lady Une said. "Aren't you going to say anything, Ray—eh, Treize?"

Treize looked at her, and tried hiding a grin. "Er...yes. Well, I'm not going to beat around the bush, I'm going to get straight to the point." There was a pause, where the others just nodded blankly. _What was he talking about...? "You see – I'm not actually Treize Khushrenada," he said._

*I knew it...* Heero thought. He stood up and aimed his gun at "Treize's" head. "Who are you then!?" he growled.

"Treize" smiled then, and to all their surprise, took off his hair and peeled off his face with a noise that sounded like taking a sticker off plastic. Behind the face and under the wig was a girl's head. She had ivory hair in a very tight bun at the top of her head. Her skin was fair, though it seemed quite flushed from being under a plastic mask on such a hot, Indian-summer day.

Their mouths fell open. 

"My name is Rayne Kiesling," she said, answering Heero's question. "Otherwise known as—" she began, but her next words were joined by Zech's voice.

"Shae Peacecraft," the two said simultaneously.

A/N: Reviewreviewreviewreviewreview!! 


	3. three

Rated: uh...PG? I dunno...there may be romantic-ness and violence in later chaps...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. But Rayne Kiesling/Shae Peacecraft is © to me, as is anything else original.

Chapter 2

Sanc Kingdom – 1:00 PM

Rayne Kiesling aka Shae Peacecraft smiled at Zechs. "Glad to see _you remembered," she said mockingly._

"Wait a minute," Relena said. Rayne/Shae (A/N: let's call her Rayne) looked at her. "You're a Peacecraft?" Relena inquired.

"That I am. I'm your twin, actually. Why...?"

"I never _knew I had a sister!" Relena exclaimed. "Much less a __twin!"_

Rayne froze. She looked at her older brother, Zechs Merquise. "You – never – _told – her?" she asked between clenched teeth. _

"I tried!" Zechs insisted. "The right moment just never came up!"

"Oh my God..." Rayne murmured, rubbing her temples. She looked at Relena. "Sister, I'm afraid we have _much catching up to do."_

Relena, as confused as the pilots and Noin were, just nodded.

"But _why did you dress up like Treize Khushrenada?" Heero growled, his gun still aimed at her. "You scared people half-to-death."_

"How else was I supposed to get in here?" Rayne asked him. "Apparently only my brother and Lady Une knew that I even _existed! And NOT as Treize Khushrenada, mind you." Everyone looked at Lady Une, who just nodded._

"I knew about it – Ms. Kiesling knew if I didn't I'd go into hysterics. I mean, it's not everyday you see someone you cared for who was supposedly dead, alive."

"True," Noin said (A/N: yes, she's still here, folks). 

Rayne turned back to Heero. "But did you have a _better idea to get in?" she growled._

The gazebo was quiet for a moment, Heero and Rayne having a staring – er, glaring contest, when Duo spoke up. "So you're Relena's sister?" he asked.

"That I am. And just who might you be?" she said.

"Duo Maxwell. The one who may run and who may hide, but never tells a lie."

"Ah," Rayne said, trying not to laugh. "Who are you other...people...?" she said, looking at the others.

"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner," said Quatre. He shook Rayne's hand. He pointed to another pilot. "This is Trowa Barton."

"Nice to meet you," Rayne said. She looked at Wufei.

"Chang Wufei," he said simply. Before Rayne could say anything, Duo interjected.

"Call him Wuffie or Wu and he'll like ya!"

Rayne cocked an eyebrow, but dismissed the moment and looked at Heero. "No need to tell me who you are," she said. "Tristan told me all about you."

"Wait," said Quatre. "Tristan as in, Tristan _Sloan?"_

Rayne nodded. "Yes. He was a very good friend of Treize's and my father. He trained me when I became a traitor to OZ and began my life as a spy, soldier and assassin."

"You were in OZ?!" Duo exclaimed.

"Obviously it runs in the family," said Heero. Zechs glowered at him.

"Ya know," Rayne told Heero, "if I had a nickel for every time I heard that I wouldn't have had to ask that scientist-y guy to pay me to come and find you five. It would've been out of the kindness of my heart to come all the way from the States that the Fang Union is planning to attack L3 in five days."

"They're attacking L3 AGAIN!?" all but Trowa and Heero shouted.

Rayne nodded. "Yes. They are. And I'm afraid they're also going to try and destroy you on the same day, Zechs," she looked at her brother, "because you passed up the opportunity to be their appointed leader and join their army."

Zechs rolled his eyes. "They never forget anything," he growled.

Rayne nodded. "Yes. Now, Dr. J gave me specific orders to come and round you guys up to get to your new chosen safehouse in Houston, Texas. So, if you would please follow me – you're transportation is waiting."

"So you're not staying?" Relena asked.

"No," Rayne said. "Sorry, but I've got to go with them. I'll see you soon, though, Sis."

Relena nodded, a frown on her face.

"There'll be plenty of time for you to frown around your work, Relena!" Rayne exclaimed. She got Relena into a sisterly embrace, which Relena returned, and walked towards her brother. "I promised I'd see you again, Zechs," Rayne said. 

Zechs nodded and hugged her. "I know," he said.

Rayne smiled at him, then turned around to face the pilots. "Ready?" They nodded. "Alright! Left...left...left, right, left – or whatever gets ya'll moving!" The pilots looked at her in perplexity. "Ugh, just go – just go." She flicked her hands to the sidewalk leading out of the gardens.

"Uh, Ms. Peacecraft," said Quatre.

"Call me Rayne – or Ms. Kiesling if it must be formal," she said, interrupting him.

"Uh...ok. Rayne?" said Quatre, "We don't know where our 'transportation' – as it is – is located."

Rayne looked at him in puzzlement, then slapped her forehead. "Rayne you idiot!" she murmured. "Ugh – it's all this blasted stress!" she exclaimed. She gave a small whimper of self-pity. "Follow me," she said, picking up her gun, mask and wig from the floor, and leading them out of the gazebo. "Talk to you guys later!" she called, waving to the four remaining people on the pergola. Then she broke into a run, the other pilots standing on the sidewalk staring after her.

Rayne looked back at them. "Aw come on guys, you're not _that outta shape are ya?" she yelled. "Come on!! Man – how bad did those scientists train ya? Did they train you at all?!"_

The pilots looked at each other and picked up their pace to a fast stride, catching up to her in a few moments.

"_That's better!" Rayne laughed. "Follow me." Then the six of them disappeared around the bend. Rayne's voice could be heard yelling "Left! Left! Left right left!" over and over._

The four people in the gazebo chuckled.

"She seems to like them," Noin said. Une and Zechs nodded.

"But, Milliardo," said Relena. Zechs looked at her. "If she's a Peacecraft – how come I never heard of her?"

"Because I never told you about her," he said simply.

"Why not?"

"The moment never came up!" he said, beginning to get a little uncomfortable.

Relena frowned. "Okay, I don't really understand – but that's alright. But, one more question?"

"What?" Zechs sighed.

"She seems to have a slight, Southern-State accent and way of speaking. You know, like the one's they have in America – mainly in Texas and Louisiana. How come?"

"When she was part of OZ, she was caught and put into solitary confinement for about two months. After that, she escaped from the base. Before she left she said she was going to the States. Somewhere in the south. She probably went to Texas and caught their accent, sometimes known as the 'Texas Twang'. And, her way of speaking...well, that must be the way the people in the States speak." He shrugged. "But of course, I don't really know."

Relena nodded.

*So I have a sister...*


	4. four

**Chapter 3**

In Some Town Near the Sanc Kingdom – 1:45 PM

The pilots walked along either side of Rayne, catching their breath from the long track they had just sprinted, thinking it was going to be short. But it turned out to be a two mile jog, and Rayne had never let them for a breather during the whole time. Actually, Rayne didn't seem tired or breathless from the run at all.

"Say, Ray..?" began Duo, stopping as he caught his breath.

Rayne looked at him, smiling from the nickname he had just given her. "Yeah?"

"How (gasp) far (pant) is the (gasp, pant) the...uh (pant) transport (gasp) transport...tran—" But before he could finish, Rayne interrupted.

"It's right here. Sorry you had to run for so long," she said as she sled down a steep incline and to a fairly large, empty, area of cement with a huge hole roofed with a big sewer cover. There were large pipes leading to the area, and the pilots recognized it as a rain pit to hold and drain the water so it didn't flood the nearby creek and houses. Sort of like a very large culvert.

A black Suburban[1] was parked in the middle of the distance between the hole in the middle of the overlarge culvert and the inclined walls, the two license plates read: "PEACE-666[2]" with a small grim reaper at the corner. The right side of the car was smashed in a little – the paint scratched off a small amount. The antenna at the front of the car was also half torn off, leaving a jagged edged point. 

"I got into a little accident," she said when she saw Duo looking at the damages of her car. "Nothing big. But the guy that crashed into me won the case when I took it to court. I had to pay for his damages and I thought to myself 'why fix it up? It's just going to get ruined again'. Believe it or not, that's the fifth time that I've been in an accident this month and it wasn't my fault."

"Take it to Hilde and my shop on L2," Duo said, grinning. "I bet I could get you a discount." 

Rayne tried not to blush. She looked down at her keychain ring attached to her jeans belt-loop and tried finding her car keys in the jumble of small silver keys and a gold crucifix, using that as an excuse to avoid his eyes. "Thanks for the offer," she mumbled. Finally she found the blasted car keys! "Found them," she said to no one in particular. She opened the car door, unlocked the other three doors, and let them choose their seats before locking the car.

Duo, after many minutes of complaining, ended up being in the other front seat (much to Rayne's uneasiness); Heero, Trowa and Quatre were in the back seat; and Wufei was forced to sit in the 'very' back where there were no seat belts nor seats.

Duo looked at the two black, fuzzy, squares hanging from the rear-view mirror. He turned them around and saw the sides of the left square all read the same thing: "Peace Bringer" The right square's side read: "Not A Peacecraft".

*Must be like Zechs. She doesn't want to hold the Peacecraft name,* Duo thought.

There was also a handheld mirror where the dashboard met the window with the words "Don't Call Me Cute – Call Me Dangerous" on the center where it reflected the user[3].

"Nice mirror," he commented.

"Thanks," she responded. She brought the car to life, and put it in the fastest gear it was capable of (it's not automatic, as you can see – though I'm not sure if Suburbans come like that).

The car gave a mighty jolt as it went over the inclined walls, and began shaking as they crashed through some overgrown bushes and through a narrow trail, barely escaping the branches of trees in the forest they were quickly passing.

Suddenly, they burst through the forest, and ended up in a street. But the pilots couldn't even register that they were on a sidewalk before there was a screech from the tires on asphalt as Rayne quickly turned the car and raced down the street.

Rayne gave a laugh. "Hey, Wufei – since you're back there, check and make sure I didn't run anyone over!" she said.

"I will NOT follow orders from a weak woman!" Wufei growled. "It is injustice that I should have to sit back here, too!! And you drive like a maniac, woman!! You're worse than Maxwell! I should be driving!! A weak woman like you at the wheel is unjust!!"

Rayne stopped Wufei's rant short by looking at her keychain loop (not the road), and trying to get a keychain off while still driving. She failed miserably and ended up crashing and destroying two water hydrants - making their contents spill out to the street – and crushing a basketball. But she managed to get the keychain off.

She threw it back to Wufei. "If you must do something, occupy yourself with this!"

"What is this, woman!?" Wufei yelled.

"An idiot keychain[4]!!" she laughed and barely managed to dodge an old lady with a grocery cart with a large swerve. 

"WOMAN!!!!!" Wufei yelled. But if he said anything more, he wasn't able to be heard, because at that moment Rayne decided to put in a VERY old CD on full blast on her car's stereo.

"What band sang this?" Duo yelled over the music.

"Linkin Park![5] It's the Hybrid Theory CD!!" she shouted back.

"I love Linkin Park!!!"

"Rock conquers all," was all Rayne said before going on with her swerving and destruction that was her driving, and singing along with the music.

~~

[1]=I don't know if Suburbans are still around in the AC years – but I don't care! It's MY story! I can do whatever I want with it!! *Light bulb flashes above her head* *evil smile* *muses edge away slowly*

[2]=So the license plate has eight characters instead of the limit of seven – but I don't care! It's MY story – ugh, forget it...

[3]=I have one of those mirrors, except it says "Don't Call Me Cute – Call Me Crazy". But there ARE the Dangerous mirrors, too..

[4]=I LOOOOOOVE those keychains!!!!! You know, those that say – "if you wanna see an idiot keychain, turn this over" on both sides. Or something like that...they're so fun!! Heh...

[5]=Linkin Park is AWESOME!!!!!! I'm listening to them right now!! But don't flame me if you don't like them, 'cause that's just CRUEL!!!! *whimper*

A/N: You know the drill...


	5. five

**Chapter 4**

Northern Europe Rowley Airport – 2:30 PM

The Gundam pilots and Rayne Kiesling walked down the wide hallway leading to their gate: C3. Rayne had put her wig and mask in the dark green backpack she had slung over her shoulder, along with her gun and a few other hand-held weapons. She had snuck them in through the heavy-security of the airport without any trouble at all, and the pilots were still figuring out how she had done it.

Rayne rubbed her eyes for the seventh time that minute.

"Rayne, are you alright?" Quatre inquired. "Your eyes are red from all that rubbing you've been inflicting on them."

Rayne looked at him. "Yeah, I'm alright. It's just that these contacts are messed."

"Contacts....?" Duo said, scratching his head.

"Yes, contacts. You'd be surprised how different Treize's ice-blue and my star-blue eyes look. ARGH!!!!" She wiped at her eyes again, looking as if she were trying to rub her eyes out. "STUPID CONTACTS!!!!!!" she screeched, catching the attention of some passerby.

Finally, she did what it seemed she had been trying to do. She ripped her eyes out! Er...she took out her contacts (A/N: hehe).

Rayne blinked, and they saw her eyes were indeed a much different shade. They were a star-blue, the color of Zech's eyes, but had more silver tinted in. There was also a shadow of something in their starry depths that the pilots couldn't place, but they brushed the thought off and followed her to the counter where they would get the tickets.

Rayne stepped in front of the counter, depositing the ice blue contacts in a nearby trashcan. 

"Hello – how may I help you?" the woman at the counter asked. She had a name-tag that read "Elizabeth".

"Tristan Sloan bought and saved six tickets for Rayne Kiesling, Chase Jones, John Mitchell, Trevor Mickens, Andrew Golden and Ivan Henry."

Elizabeth (the counter-lady) typed on the computer, and nodded slowly. "Yes. Six tickets saved by Tristan Sloan for those six people for the three o' clock shuttle on Monday, August third to Houston, Texas. Are you here to pick them up?" 

"Yes I am," Rayne said.

"Could I have a driver's license or any other ID from all of you, please?" Elizabeth said. 

"Oh, sure," Rayne said. She looked behind her and saw that only all of the pilots but Duo was there. "Where's Duo?" she hissed so Elizabeth couldn't hear.

"Maxwell's over there," Wufei said, pointing to a pay-phone across the hall.

"Ugh," Rayne groaned. She turned back to Elizabeth. "Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment. Chase," she looked at Heero, who just looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, "give the nice woman your driver's licenses," Rayne said, handing him a fake license where Elizabeth couldn't see. As she passed the other pilots, she gave them the fakes as well, then she ran down the hallway to where Duo was.

"Duo!" she said. 

Duo turned around. "Yeah, Ray-chan?" he asked in an innocent voice, but his glittering-with-mischief eyes betrayed him.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh _nothing, Ray-chan," he said, grinning._

"Right, whatever," Rayne sighed. "Just come on. And when you get up to the counter, give the woman this driver's license – alright? You are now known as John Mitchell, okay?"

"Uh...ok..." Duo said, confused. The two walked up to the counter and he gave Elizabeth his fake drivers license. She nodded.

"Alright. Here are your tickets. Have a nice flight." She smiled then went to the next in line.

"Wow, that went well," Rayne said, more to herself than the pilots. "Anyways, the flight leaves in about thirty minutes and I am _starving. I hate those complimentary peanut bag...__thingies...they give you on the flight. You guys want to eat?"_

"I do!!!" Duo exclaimed.

"Ok, any other takers?" Rayne asked, trying not to let the blush stain her cheeks because Duo was coming. They shook their heads. "Alright. We'll be back later." 

She and Duo went to a nearby restaurant then came back twenty-five minutes later, both talking and laughing.

The two sat down, and Rayne checked her watch. "The plane should be leaving in five minutes!" she exclaimed. "Why aren't they boarding yet?"

Then, the intercom person came on.

"Will any passengers going to Houston, Texas on the three o' clock flight please go to gate C3. I repeat, will any passengers going to Houston, Texas on the three o' clock flight please go to gate C3. That is all."

Rayne and the pilots stood up, and since they were closest to the gate, they got in the shuttle first.

They walked down the hallway branching out to the shuttle, and entered. "The back," Rayne said from behind all the pilots. "Go to the back."

Heero, who was in front, nodded and walked quickly down the aisle and to the very back seats, which also had the six chairs facing each other. They all sat in one of those seat-sections, and Rayne collected their fake IDs.

"Now," Heero said. "How do you know the scientists?" 

Rayne looked at him. "Tristan introduced them to me. They're okay I guess, but Tristan is a much better tutor and instructor," Rayne said. She put her feet on the short table in front of her seat and put her hands behind her head. "I suggest you try and go something constructive with your time, because this flight is six hours long."

"Six?" Duo yelped.

"Yeah," Rayne said. "We have to go over the North Atlantic, and over about four-thousand miles."

Duo shut his eyes in frustration. "I didn't even bring my Game Boy Superior[1]!" he growled.

"I have one," Rayne said.

Duo looked at her with enormous puppy-dog eyes. "Can I play with it? Pa-weeeeeeez?" 

Rayne reluctantly nodded, took out a blue, Game Boy Advanced 5 with one game. She pointed to the game, and said, "The only one I have SpecOps, a shooting and destroying game. Tristan gave it to me; he said it would improve my shooting skills."

Duo did all but tear Rayne's hands off in the process of taking the game, and started playing, making impressed noises as he did so.

Rayne and the other pilots looked at him strangely. 

"Does he always do that?" she asked Trowa, who was on the other side of her.

Trowa just nodded.

"Hm...great," Rayne murmured. She took out a book titled "Gone With The Wind," and began reading it, sometimes stopping to glower at Wufei when he said something about her being a 'weak woman'.

After what seemed the millionth time that minute of Wufei calling her weak, she slammed the book down. Luckily, only Heero and Trowa were awake, and they were the ones who wouldn't say anything. Rayne took her half-full (A/NL: or half-empty, whichever you prefer) glass of ice water and threw it in the sleeping Wufei's form. She immediately put the glass down and pretended to be reading her book, and watched as Wufei jumped up and made a show of getting the water off him and calling her 'very' rude names.

When Wufei came back from the bathroom, Rayne smirked at him. "That'll teach you never to call me weak," she said defiantly.

[1]=This is in the future!! So it's not advanced anymore!! Duh!! ^___^ I'll stop trying now...

A/N: what happened to her car? And the Gundams?! And the pilots' luggage?! Uh...well...her car...it was left at the airport parking lot – it was a rental she totaled. Heh... And the Gundams and luggage? They were transported from their old safehouse to the one in Spring, Texas. How? I have NO idea... 

And Spring is a suburb in Houston, but it's always called Spring, Houston or Spring, Texas – never Spring, Houston, Texas. So I'll call it Spring, Houston. Just REMEMBER: Houston is in Texas in the US!!!

And since Rayne lives in the safehouse, all her luggage is already in drawers and stuff...


	6. six

**Chapter 5**

Spring, Houston – 8:30 PM

Rayne drove rented van in the safehouse driveway. She loved this safehouse for tow reasons. One, because it was close two a neighborhood and a town, and had a VERY large are of forest behind it. And under that are of forest was the hangar for the Gundams. The second reason was because she had lived there as a home during the years of war against the Barton Foundation and the months of peace after that. Tristan Sloan had actually bought the house in AC Year 194, fixed it up, and made the hangar underground. Just in case they ever needed such a secretive hideaway and safehouse for any wars that might pop up. But the safehouse wasn't like many of the others she'd been in. This one really resembled a home, besides the large backroom used for weapon storage and to keep track on the Gundams in the hangar.

There were the sounds of the tires on gravel, then the soft tap of the engine as it died down. She took the keys out of the car, and put a guard over the wheel so no one would be able to steal it – she still wasn't totally sure if she should trust the pilots or not. Tristan hadn't given very thorough details on their past crimes or actions. She couldn't be too careful.

She unlocked all the doors, and jumped out of the van, taking her backpack with her. She opened the car-door at the right side behind hers, and nudged Duo awake. "Come on," she said. "Get up, sleeping beauty." *Oh crud, did I just say that?!* Rayne thought in horror. *Jeez – I better focus on more missions...* 

Duo opened his eyes and yawned. *Did she just call me sleeping beauty?!* Duo thought. *Heh, I can say the same for her... She gorgeous* He nodded and slowly got out, followed by Trowa; Quatre and Wufei had gotten out the other way and Heero had been in the passenger seat.

The group trudged up the driveway and to the back. She unlocked the fence and led them to an enormous back yard with the only barriers from it to the woods being a crude wooden fence. There were about six trees in the backyard, and there were three hammocks tied in between them. The hammocks were near the edges of the yard. But more in the middle was a built-in swimming pool with a slide, diving board, and diving posts. The water hitting gently against the sides of the pool made the group even wearier.  

"Nice yard," Duo commented. "How deep is that pool?"

"It's Olympic-sized, but it's deep than an Olympic pool..." Rayne murmured to herself. "Oh, now I remember: Twenty-five feet deep. It starts at four-and-a-half." 

"Oh, cool!" Duo exclaimed. "Can I go for a swim?!" 

Rayne laughed. "Tomorrow we can all go for a dip," she said. "But right now, I think we'd all like to rest."

There were murmurs of agreement from the pilots. Rayne smiled. 

She unlocked the backdoor and they all entered a very spacious living room. There was a set of a black leather loveseat, couch, and La-Z-Boy recliner; along with two mahogany side-tables with coasters. There was a Birdseye chest in the middle of the room, which sat on top of a large maroon rug, that had a candle placed in the middle. At the bottom of the north wall was a row of cabinets, and above those were built-in shelves that held models of animals, figurines of wolves, and some books still in their book-boxes. In the east wall was a fireplace with a few logs in it that looked like it had not been used in a long time, and over the hearth was a mantle, though because they were right next to it they couldn't see what was on top of it. There was also a small bar at the south-west corner of the room with a glass shelf of souvenir shot-glasses above it. But the real treasure there was a sixty-five inch, flat screen TV complete with two woofers in the back corners, and a set of speakers at each top and bottom corner of the room. In a small wooden cabinet at the left side of the TV there was a CD, DVD and VHS player. 

"Wow..." Duo breathed, in awe. 

Rayne smiled. "It's not that much, you know? I mean, I know it's fancy for a safehouse – but I've been living here for a few years now and people have been giving me a lot of job offers that pay good money. And I need the normal home casualties," she said.

"It's barely eight thirty, so you can go choose your rooms now. Your luggage is at the stairwell. Oh yeah, and if you don't mind – one of you guys is going to have to use my room. Who's it gonna be?" said Rayne.

"Where are you going to sleep?" asked Quatre.

"I'll sleep on this couch. It's comfortable," she responded. 

"I'm not sleeping in some woman's room," said Wufei.

"That goes without saying," spat Rayne, glowering at him.

"I'm not taking it," said Heero.

"Neither am I," said Trowa.

"Don't let Duo," Heero told Rayne. 

"Okay. Sorry, Quatre-kun, but you're stuck with sleeping in my room," said Rayne.

"Oh, it's alright," said Quatre.

"The small dresser is full of my crap, Quatre," said Rayne. "But you can use the bigger dresser and closet to hold your stuff." Quatre nodded. 

"Now," said Rayne, walking into the kitchen. "Go put your stuff away. I'll make dinner. What do you guys like to eat?"

"Maxwell's the human vacuum cleaner," said Wufei. "He'll eat anything we don't like."

"Did I ask for you to tell me _Duo's eating habits, Chang?" Rayne growled. "No. I asked what __you and __your own person want to eat. Because I find it very hard to believe your food favorites are the same as Duo's! So just worry about yourself!" Rayne glowered. "God, you'd think you __like Duo the way you've been insulting him all day, Chang." she murmured angrily, looking for a pot inside cabinet._

Wufei and Duo stared at her at the last comment. "W-what?!" the two sputtered. 

"You heard me," she growled. She slammed the pot on the counter with a deafening metallic sound. The pilots cringed. "Now, before I get angry – tell me what you want to eat before I make something you'll end up hating and SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROATS!!" she yelled. She smiled and faced Heero, Trowa and Quatre. "What would you three like to eat since you're the only ones not trying to destroy me down to my very last nerve?"

"Anything's fine with me," was all Heero said.

"Uh...Stereo," said Quatre, and Trowa nodded. (Side note: Stereo is the equivalent to ditto or 'the same' for those of you who didn't know..heh)

"Alright, spaghetti for you three – sound good?" 

The three nodded.

"Now..." Rayne turned icily to Wufei and Duo, who were still staring at her in wide-eyed shock. "What would you _children want to eat?"_

"I'll have spaghetti, too," said Duo.

"I'll have spaghetti as well," said Wufei.

"Okay...that's what I wanted to hear," Rayne said. "So get out of the kitchen before I make you. Go watch TV or something. The movies and DVDs are in the cabinets along the wall."

"Don't havta tell me twice," said Duo and sped off into the living room.  

Rayne just chuckled quietly and began boiling water in a pot for the noodles of spaghetti while mixing the sauce. She discarded Quatre and Trowa's offers to help her cook with a wave of her hand, telling them that they should be relaxing, and started making the dinner.

"What movie are you all watching?" Rayne asked when Duo walked in to see if the food was almost done.

"Black Hawk Down," said Duo. "It's good for an old war movie – but it would be so much better if it had Gundams!"

Rayne blinked, then burst out laughing.

~~

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